Balta1701

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Apr 29, 2013 -> 06:24 PM) Because as journalists, you're trained to not give your own opinion. He did that. He shouldn't have. He should go tell Magic that he is burning in hell, or Jordan for all the sex they've had outside of wedlock. But he won't because he's a pick-and-choose bigot. And he's a terrible analyst anyway so this should just be the nail in the coffin. He's not a journalist, as you say yourself, he's an analyst.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 29, 2013 -> 06:06 PM) You're discriminating against him because of his religious beliefs? I'd like to think of it as discriminating against him for lecturing others based on his religious beliefs, but whatever works. I don't have to eat at Chick Fil A, I don't have to leak my info to Chris Broussard.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 29, 2013 -> 05:22 PM) I don't really see a problem with what he said. That's his belief, so whatever. I guess we can go down the line of whether or not he should be saying that as a reporter for ESPN, but these guys get into all sorts of topics that aren't sports related, so i'm not sure why he can't speak his mind on a sports-related topic. The only really relevant issue, aside from the general way it makes his employer look...is whether making this kind of statement impacts his ability to cover the league. Frankly, it might; i wouldn't be giving him an interview or talking to him off the record any time soon if I had info to leak.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 29, 2013 -> 01:33 PM) Nice write up. Ever consider the fact that a gadget player doesn't have to play QB? I think I outline that pretty well, and Tebow himself could be an effective gadget player if he was in the TE or RB role, but he's shown no willingness to take that position.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 29, 2013 -> 09:32 AM) It really is too bad, because he could be a really nice gadget player in the NFL, but any team he signs with, ESPN is immediately going to ask why he isn't playing more and when he will start. No he couldn't and I hate when people say this. In this case not because of him personally, but because any sort of "gadget" setup will not work unless he can be a regular on the field in the first place. When a team does what the Jets did last year, try to use any player as a "Gadget" QB, 2 things happen. First, in order for him to come in, the QB has to come out. Like it or not, this step takes the offense out of rhythm. The playcalling is different, the cadence is different, everything changes. It may only be a psychological change, but the offense is told "This guy is in charge" and suddenly he's on the bench for a play or two. It's a giant disruption. Worse than that is what it does to the defense. Put yourself in the shoes of the middle linebacker. You see the QB come out and Tebow come on to the field. Do you think that a trick play might be coming? Do you not perk up rapidly and make sure everyone knows their assignments and how to deal with the upcoming trick play? The defense immediately snaps to attention, that's their natural response, they're coached to be ready for it. The Bears have seen this exact effect with the "Hester package", every time he comes on the field, the defense suddenly snaps to attention and expects something tricky. If you want a gadget player to be effective, he has to be a nearly every down player. He has to be able to have a role if the play isn't called for him, whether it's as a receiver or a blocker, a team has to run 10 plays with him in order to get the defense adapted to having him on the field before anything tricky is tried. Take a look at how the Read option teams do it; they run the read option like 10% of the time and a standard offense 80-90% of the time because they want it to cross up the defense. Or look at how the Packers use Cobb and the Vikings used Harvin whenever he was healthy; they may not be in on every play, and they are moved around a lot, but they're in on a lot of plays where the ball goes elsewhere. If Tebow was willing and able to play the role of a starting TE or FB, great, then he's a great "Gadget" player because you can keep him on the field and have him play a role during the other 90% of the called plays, and then on play 10 you can flip the ball to him and have him run a read option out of the backfield with the defense not knowing that things are coming. But, he's shown no willingness to switch positions and he's seemingly spent no time developing skills that could help him make that position change.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Apr 29, 2013 -> 10:20 AM) Umm he said they are without their ace. Danks is far from their ace right now, even if healthy. At best they're missing their #3 or #4 starter. A healthy John Danks is a reasonable #2 starter on a very good team.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 07:50 PM) MLB ‏@MLB 8m #BlueJays No. 1 starter @RADickey43 expected to get MRI for back, neck: http://atmlb.com/YfkZkw He looked a lot better on the mound yesterday.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 07:38 PM) Maybe the team isn't comprised of fucused/disciplined players. The same players were hitting the cutoff man and calling for the ball correctly last year.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 07:29 PM) Why don't they have the focus that they did last year? It took a year to lose the team (naysayers of Ventura?). Of course, when you look at the central, it's not like any of them are burning things up! I gave Ventura all the credit in the world for how that team came out of spring training ready to play last year. He gets exactly the opposite this year for this team coming out of ST making themselves look like fools every time there's a cutoff man to hit.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 07:25 PM) Look at the 8 position players fielded today and tell me how many games they should win. They'll lose a lot of games in a variety of ways because they aren't very good. Lack of focus is maybe one of the reasons they aren't very good. If this team came out of spring training with the same level of focus and discipline they had last year they'd be over .500 right now despite all the injuries. (and...some of those injuries might well be a consequence of people not getting adequate work in the spring as well).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 06:55 PM) Dropping a ball in RF has nothing to do with preparation. But there's definitely a loss of focus again. And that's on top of last night, where missing a cutoff man helped contribute to a big inning.

Hopefully if they're calling up a pitcher that means Keppinger will be ready to play on Tuesday.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 06:48 PM) Be glad when this month is over. I've always admired teams who constantly overcame some form of adversity, even a lack of talent in some cases. Maybe they can turn the page. Ventura wins manager of the year. Stranger things have happened....and it's not like I'm about to start rooting for someone else. There's only so much whining you can do about the state of your organization, it's player development (and lack thereof), its past decisions, its lack of vision. I am surprised that some of you who were so convinced this team would be s*** this season are so pissed off right now. Isn't this what you expected? Better to get it out in April/May, I suppose. If the Sox are destined to be the doormat in the AL central in '13 then I'll look forward to watching Gillaspie, Beckham, Viciedo, Jones, Reed, Q and even Santiago. And hopefully more of Jordan Danks. I think he's shortened his swing and looks really good at the plate these days. Give him a chance, Sox. I still cannot believe how poorly prepared this team is. Over and over again, defensive and mental miscues are killing them. They're losing more games from stupid mistakes than they are from not hitting.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 05:53 PM) Dylan salary is cheap..............Floyd at 9 Mil will be 1st to go. The fact that he's cheap and being effective might well mean someone is willing to give up something a few years away in exchange for him.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 05:04 PM) Yep, he's going to be the main guy responsible for that And y'all wonder why I'm skeptical of the Tigers being this 90+ win juggernaut.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 05:02 PM) That's a good point. After going 0-4 with 3 K's last night, I was thinking he would get today off if Wise could play. With a tough lefty like Price and runs at a premium, I can understand why he played today. The real problem is the injury pile. If you had Viciedo out there (and maybe heated up, and maybe some hits from Beckham), you'd feel better about sitting Rios for a day. Instead, it'd be Tekotte or D2 out there against Price...eh.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 05:01 PM) Well, Valverde is throwing like 2-3 mph fastball than last year. I don't expect him to be great, but he should help align their bullpen so Coke doesn't have to close. A guy who was in single A ball last week is going to carry the Tigers to 93 wins.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 05:00 PM) I'm sure, thankfully there's a day off tomorrow. Good call balta The rainouts have helped a bit I'm sure with that, but worth noting, he's in the lineup every day.

QUOTE (flavum @ Apr 28, 2013 -> 04:57 PM) Det 93-69 KC 88-74 Sox 78-84 Cle 76-86 Min 73-89 Something like that? Where is Detroit getting a bullpen?

Wonder if the fact that Rios hasn't been given any extra offdays this year is catching up with him.

Bah, and there's the game on the defense again.

Hellickson ejected of all people

That was a real good job by Joyce. That ball wasn't even a strike.

Crud.

Wow, Axe does a nice job of avoiding trouble there.